San Diego , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- You 're a mean one , Mr. Gingrich .

Well , not really . Those of us who know Newt Gingrich tend to describe him as not only intelligent but also charming . Some members of the Washington press corps will admit as much , even though they usually do n't agree with Gingrich 's views .

No matter . Facts should n't get in the way of a good smear . And at the moment , the left is trying to dampen the appeal of the former House speaker and current GOP presidential front-runner by likening him to a green and hairy Dr. Seuss character who tries to steal Christmas .

Only in the real life version , Gingrich is supposedly at war with the poor for saying this : `` Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works , so they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday . ''

That narrative was front and center again this week as Gingrich explained his remarks to reporters gathered at a New York press conference , emphasizing that he believes the secret to getting America working again is to teach some Americans how to work .

`` I 've been talking a little bit about the importance of work , '' Gingrich said , `` particularly as it relates to people who are in areas where there are public housing where there are relatively few people who go to work . ''

At one point , Gingrich turned the tables on the reporters and asked them a question . He wanted to know , `` How many of you earned some money doing something before you were 10 years old , whether it was cutting grass or babysitting or something ? ''

Talk to hugely successful people , Gingrich said , and most of them will say that they got an early start learning about jobs and responsibility and earning money for their labor . Tragically , that 's not happening with many young people today . Gingrich pointed out that , for instance , among African-American teenagers , the unemployment rate is a staggering 43 % .

Now , you can spin a statistic like that one of two ways . You can say these unemployed black teenagers are helpless victims and the system is working against them . Or you can say that many of these teenagers are unemployable because no one ever taught them the skills necessary to hold down a job .

Gingrich thinks government should have a hand in creating a `` pathway to work '' so `` people get in the work habit and learn the skills to be successful . ''

Bravo for Newt . Politicians do n't usually speak this way , which is why so many of them have mastered the art of talking for hours without saying anything of importance . I ca n't imagine Mitt Romney saying these things ; he 's too busy telling people what they want to hear to tell them what they need to hear . This subject is as important as they come , and Gingrich deserves credit for kicking off the discussion , especially since he was sure to be pummeled for stating the obvious .

Here 's the obvious : Americans have lost their work ethic , and some never had one to lose . They grow up -- or put more precisely , they 're raised -- thinking of so many jobs as beneath them that they wake up one day not knowing how to do any job .

Gingrich was right on the money . But I would go further than he did . This is n't just a problem for black Americans ; it 's a problem for all Americans . In fact , as someone who speaks to groups all over the country and who spends a fair amount of time visiting high schools and colleges , I worry less about students from poor families who lack resources and opportunities than I do about those from the upper-middle class who lack passion and purpose .

Poor kids often have a fire in their belly , a desire to improve their lot and help their parents . Upper-middle class kids can be harder to motivate , especially if they 've never been taught to work by their parents .

You think I 'm kidding . I remember once seeing a 21-year-old struggle with how to hold a broom and sweep the floor . It was n't his fault . No one had ever taught him how to do that chore -- or any other . Whenever I write about young people and the jobs they wo n't do , I hear from dozens of employers with stories of their own . The common theme in all those e-mails is that we 've been too soft on our kids and have n't demanded enough from them , something we hardly notice because we 've allowed illegal immigrants to pick up the slack .

Parents used to make their children work after school , or on weekends , or during summer break , to earn extra money to buy what they wanted . They gave them a list of chores to do to earn their allowances . No chores , no allowances . Today , parents find it easier to skip the chores and buy their kids what they want , which is no good for anyone and no good for society .

You know what is good ? This conversation , and others like it . No subject this important should be off limits . After all , how do we fix a problem if it is considered taboo to even mention it ?

Newt Gingrich had the courage to mention the problem of America 's vanishing work ethic , and emphasize the need to restore it . And for that , Americans should be thankful .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr. .

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Newt Gingrich said poor teens do n't see people working so do n't learn work habits

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We have lost our work ethic , Navarrette says . Not just poor kids : richer kids lack purpose

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Navarrette : Gingrich got in hot water talking about it , but it should not be a taboo subject